My 22 month old has trouble falling asleep at night unless we hold her until she is in REM sleep.?

Question

She had learned (from being sick recently) that if she throws-up in her crib we will come into her room and rescue her ie:change the sheets, clothes etc. Everytime we lay her down she starts to cough and actually makes herself puke!! It is the strangest thing. She just works herself up so much and we are at our wits end!!

Answer 1

She wants the attention. You best way to get her to stop is to keep letting her cry. I know it is hard, but if you continue to hold her until she falls asleep, then you will never get her to stop.

Answer 2

I hate to say it but you created this. You need to let her sleep in the vomit, sounds awful and gross but it will break the pattern. It will take a good week of her crying it out, but it will work. As long as you know she is safe and okay, just don't go to her. I know it is so hard, but necessary. She may not smell great in the morning or try and change her sheets after she has fallen asleep. They are smart at 22 mos and she knows how to get what she wants from you. My son is 23 mos and started giving me a hard time at night, I had to do the cry it out method and it worked after night three. He realized that it wasn't doing him any good. I would check on him once, put his music box on, not say a word and walk out the door....he would scream to come downstairs and I just ignored him. I have several friends where their children did throw up after getting so worked up...

Answer 3

I have an 18 month old and she will gag herself and we of course run in to keep her from throwing up... it sucks so I know what you're dealing with. Let her cry it out and if she does throw up, keep the lights off, you clean her up without talking to her and have your husband very calmy and quietly change the bedding. Then lay her right back down. Soon she'll realize she really isn't getting attention and she'll fall asleep. This is a very good age for them to learn to fall asleep without you. I made the mistake of rocking my daughter untill she fell asleep and it took a couple of weeks to get her to fall asleep without me... it's hard but she'll learn pretty soon. Good Luck

Answer 4

It seems that she's got you figured out. You better start getting her out of that habit while she's still young. If you don't, then you'll have the same problem when she gets older. As long as you give in to her, she'll keep doing it. She may cry, she may throw a tantrum, but just let her. She'll fall asleep eventually. This may take a while for her to get used to this. But if you give in just one time, all the effort is lost, and you'll have to start back over to the beginning. Best of luck to you........

Answer 5

Let her throw up and cry all night. Eventually she will learn to fall asleep on her own. If you don't stop this now, you're in for a long haul and perhaps more problems.

Answer 6

My, doesn't she have you nicely trained!

You just have to let her cry it out. I know it seems gross to just leave her there after she throws up, but it will be even more unpleasant for her than it is for you. If it makes you feel any better, get a video monitor so you can make sure she's okay without going in there.

Answer 7

It will be very hard on you and your daughter, but you MUST allow her to cry herself a few nights. It is really the only way to stop that behavior.

Answer 8

they had this problem on SuperNanny, I think. The child kept making themselves sick. I think her solution was to establish a bedtime routine (brush teeth, read a story) make it all about the child. That seemed to help the child.